Like the sun // open // in a painted sky

[vellichor]

IT GROWS AND GROWS — Cerasus was always one to follow rules. Rules kept everyone safe, after all, and they were there for a very specificreason. In the stories she read, if people didn't follow the rules, they almost always got hurt. However, even with those beliefs, the little girl had been wandering a little bit outside of camp on her own lately. It usually wasn't anywhere too far and she only did it to find a quiet place to relax. Today she'd just gone a little farther than usual though. Her body ached as she traveled but she swore she saw something in the distance that she hadn't explored before. She glanced behind her shoulder before continuing her walk. She knew where she was going and she was certain she'd be able to find her way back when she needed to.

As she came closer, she realized that she was among all sorts of crumbling buildings. Her eyes grew wide and she seemed to move like a ghost through the area, her flickering body only adding to the effect. She then noticed one building in particular with large columns in the front. The tiny kitten made her way up the big steps (she assumed this building must've been made for giants, it was the only explanation) and into the building. When she arrived, she saw all sorts of things. There were all kinds of statues and paintings. Cece supposed the statues were interesting but there was one painting in particular that caught her attention. She glanced behind her once more before walking further in to look at it. It had all sorts of colors, ones she wasn't even sure she'd seen before. There were two people holding hands. Would anyone want to hold a hand they couldn't see, she wondered? Well, a paw was more accurate. She held up her own paw, as though trying to reach it and watched as it flicked in and out of view. Why didn't anything or anyone else do that? Why was it just her?

She supposed she'd heard the creaking awhile ago but she hadn't paid much attention to it. Now, though, there was a crash back at the entrance and she spun around, pushing herself to run back towards the entryway. When she slipped through the large doors once again, though, she could see one of the columns had fallen right in front of her. Alright. This was fine. She could handle this. She leaned on her back legs, letting her tail wave in the air for a moment before trying to leap on top of the structure but she was far too little. Maybe if she was full grown she'd be able to get over it but she was so little, even for her age. It was fine. She could figure this out. She began to pace back and forth and stopped to hear that the building was still creaking. Was it possible the whole facade would just come crashing down on her. Panic seized her chest and she did the next thing she knew how to do, "Mama! Mommy! Ellie! Is anyone there?" she yelled as loud as she could, hoping that someone somewhere would hear her. She couldn't stay trapped here forever, she couldn't. Someone would find her. This was all so wrong. This was why she followed the rules. Things like this didn't happen when you followed rules. — OUR HOME SWEET HOME

"SPEECH"

tags

[MOONMADE]

[size=9pt]Speaking of giants, Moonmade was wandering. Through the plains and into the trees until he found the crumbled buildings he'd visited while searching for herbs. He'd arrived the other day when the sun was sinking, and in an effort to get back to camp in time to deliver his findings, hadn't had time to look around. But now he was back, a lanky golden thing amongst beige ruins. He could blend in with the statues if he stayed still long enough.

The silence was broken with such intent that he felt himself jolt. It was a voice, childish and youthful but not like him. Far younger. His follows the sounds she makes until he finds her, over a collapsed columns. Absentmindedly, he wonders why the fuck this area isn't completely cordoned off, if it's putting kids at risk.

Atop the column, the teenager peers down at the fretting kitten, a frown heavy on his face. "Hey, hey, it's ok," His voice is softer than is typical of Moon as he lands the other side, crouching low to the ground in an attempt to make himself smaller. He'll admit he's never been a fan of upset kids. He tends to go into full Mom Mode and it freaks him out a little bit. "You alright? You're not hurt, are you?" His golden gaze scans the kitten, and upon finding nothing, is satisfied enough to help her over the column. He holds out a paw, a make shift Lift, and muses, "What's a guy gotta' do for some good stable ancient architecture 'round here, huh? The Romans ain't shit."

[imperia]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]Rules are guidelines to good, healthy behavior (most of the time). As important as they are, one cannot not understand that importance until the rules have been bent and consequences have been suffered. Failure is okay. Bending the rules is okay. As long as a lesson has been learned in the end. In Cece's case, wandering is not so strange, even in those who follow rules as if they were as important as breathing. Imperia is one of those people. A goody-goody, as some might call her. But she is unfazed by those labels. In her heart, she knows the difference between right and wrong which gives her the confidence to wander as she pleases. Her mind is restless and her heart is full of naive hopes and dreams. They act as a sort of energy, powering Imperia so that she may roam in search of her whims.

A freshly woven crown of Queen Anne's lace and poppy rests atop the creature's narrow skull as she drifts from place to place. "Je, je vais t’attendre là," She hums softly to herself, lost in her own little world. "Viendras-tu pour moi?" Imperia is a sucker for love songs. Her home life did not reflect a love story at all, but sometimes those innocent dreams are only strengthened by disappointed expectations. She dreams of falling in love one day, just like the heroines in those stories she likes to read. Her humming is soft and sweet, reminiscent of Snow White charming the world with her beautiful voice. In the distance, she spots the familiar shape of Moonmade. The hulking lion has only been in the Ascendants for a short while, but he has quickly become one of her favorite people. Curious as to why he is out and about, Peri alters her course to intercept him...just as he dashes away at the sound of a little voice calling for help.

She follows suit, nimbly navigating the crumbling architecture with the grace of a doe. A concerned expression mars her lovely features, but is soothed upon seeing that the child is in no immediate danger. "Ah, salut, ma petite," greets the argentine canine with a sweet smile. Silver dollar eyes flicker over to moon briefly before returning to Cerasus. "Careful, Lune, Roman may not appreciate you dissing his people," she teases softly. It is no secret that she finds the young lion to be incredibly amusing. Her attention returns to the child. "You are Cerasus, right? My name is Imperia. I see you've been doing a bit of exploring.." the she-wolf clearly adores children, given her sweet, motherly tone and the genuine interest sparkling in her gaze when she regards the young girl.

[Margaery]

MARGAERY FOLIE-MIKAELSON

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MAKE ME QUEEN OR
I'LL MAKE YOU BLEED

Call it a mother's intuition, but Margaery just knew that Cesarus was in trouble. She often steered clear of the ruins, bad memories from a nasty spill during her pregnancy deterring her from exploring them any further. While it'd only be her (very immortal) life on the line, she was of course still wary. The buildings were in a state of crumbled decay, no doubt unstable and prone to collapsing if disturbed in anyway. She didn't want to deal with that. But Cece... Cece most likely didn't know how dangerous the area was, and that, in and of itself, was what caused Margaery to come running. 

She heard her daughter's voice clearly, a frown twisting her lips as she raced closer, ready to rescue Cece from the danger until she nearly collided headfirst into a.... pillar? As a domestic feline, Margaery would never have been able to scale the column. She was taller than most, yes, but that didn't change the fact that it still extended several inches higher than her- higher than she could jump if she tried that alternative. You know what you need to do, sugar, Genevieve taunted, earning a low hiss from the Cosmic General. As much as she hated to admit it, her counterpart was right. The solution to her problem was painfully obvious and practically standing right in front of her: she needed to shapeshift.

[b]"This is the one and only time that I'm agreeing with you," Margaery whispered under her breath, closing her eyes. It didn't take long for her to shift into a mountain lion, toned muscles easily pulling her up and over and onto the other side. Blue eyes - not copper, somehow Genevieve hadn't won this race for control - fell upon the form of Cece and softened immediately, a gentle smile appearing on Maarit's expression as she regarded her child. Innocent and gentle, it wasn't often that the oldest version of Margaery made any appearances. Typically, she wasn't strong enough to fend off Ingrid of Genevieve. This time was different though, yet unfortunately short-lived, the Cosmic General returning to her original form as quickly as she had changed away from it.

"Are you alright, dulcis?" She inquired quietly, only now realizing that both Moon and Imperia had beat her to it. "It isn't safe to be in here all alone, these buildings are very old and could collapse at any moment. Here, let's get you out of here and then you can tell me about everything you saw."

© MADI

[Suiteheart]

SUITE
HEART

A mother's intuition. It was funny how that worked, really. The white feline had felt something searing in her chest before moving to her mind. What had alerted her to where the danger was was the sound of the collapsing pillar. Her head whipped in that direction as a bad feeling washed over her entire being. The last time she had been to the City of Stars, Margaery had collapsed. The time before that, she had helped Radeken, who had been partially crushed by a falling column. It was the first incident that made panic flare the life inside of her, as she neared the ruins. And hearing her daughter's cry for help only made things worse.

The white feline was there in an instant, hoping on top of the collapsed pillar. Frantic eyes moved and moved and moved until they saw the form of Cerasus. A shaky breath tumbled passed her lips as her gaze then recognized Moonmade and Imperia and Margaery. She inhaled slowly, trying to soothe her frazzled mind. Everything was fine. Everyone was okay. 'Breathe.'

With everything that had been happening lately, Suiteheart was on edge. Her mind had been stuck on Lilyspoise for days and days, and she couldn't shake the feeling that another one of her children would be lost soon. Her heart was hurting. And as her soft baby blues landed on Cece, she prayed to anything and everything she would not lose another.

"Thank you, Moon and Imperia," the Admiral breathed, finally regaining the ability to speak. "I mean it. Really." It was good to know Cece had people looking out for her. Even though she had been in the Ascendants for a few months now, her year alone still robbed her of believing everyone was just looking out for one another (and God, did hate that). She was glad for this little reminder.

Suiteheart focused again on Cerasus, a delicate smile upon her lips. All the traits Cece couldn't taken after Suite and she chose to be adventurous. The white feline knew there was nothing wrong with that, but this incident had struck fear in her heart. "Our little lionheart," she said. "You had us worried, honey. I'm so glad you're safe."

[b]suiteheart folie-mikaelson . ecliptic admiral . the ascendants . tags

© [color=black]MADI

[Roy Mustang]

Before Roy became Aaliyah's father, the male never fully realized the stress and dedication that comes with being a parent. Before Aaliyah showed up in his life, Roy never had time for a family. Back as a human, he was focused solely on his job and unit, with the hopes to reach his goal of becoming Fuhrer. While Roy liked his subordinate, Riza Hawkeye, the two of them being together there would never be possible. It was illegal- the two of them were required to follow military regulations. You were not allowed to marry your subordinates, so the thought of marrying Riza back home wasn't a thought he had often. Anyways, even though people back in Amestris thought Roy was a womanizer(he certainly seemed like it when he was on the phone back in the office, when Riza was away), Roy didn't have any children with any other women. If he had to have kids with anyone, he'd want children with Riza- but again, it wasn't possible back then as they couldn't marry. And, they were both too swarmed by their jobs to think of it, but now the thought has been running through Roy's mind- considering they are no longer apart of the Amestrian military anymore.

His life has already changed so much in the past three months, one thing Roy didn't expect was to become a parent. A single parent especially, and to a child who wasn't his own. It was completely unintentional, Aaliyah grew quickly attached to him when they found her alone in the territory. It's probably how similar they look, at the time Roy wasn't sure what to think of it. But the more Aaliyah hung around him, the more Roy found himself caring about the child. It finally came to a point where Roy decided he'd take her in as her own, and he hasn't regretted it once. Roy cares about Aaliyah- perhaps at times he's a little overprotective of her, but he just wants to be there for his adopted daughter. One thing Roy can now understand with becoming a parent is how stressed one can become through other children's decisions. Even if it isn't Aaliyah who's wandering off by herself, worries brew in his chest for the parents who are looking for their child in a frenzy. And now, even if it's not his child he notices that's out on their own, Roy has to approach them. He can't just let them wander off to possible danger- he'd be stressed beyond belief if Aaliyah was in their shoes.

Roy was nearby the Ruins, padding past it on his designated path. Roy always made sure to look at those ruins from a safe distance- who knows when those old structures will crumble down. Roy wasn't about to relive his experience with his missing leg, the abandoned ruins weren't safe to travel through. When Roy was passing by them, he came to a complete stop when he heard a big crash. His head quickly snapped towards the ruins, noticing a large dust cloud around the entrance. As he looked towards it, his ears pricked up as he heard a young, little voice crying out for help. Roy's eyes widened with shock, ears flattening to his cranium as he realized the severity of the situation. There was a child, it sounded like one of Margaery and Suiteheart's kids, stuck behind the collapsed entrance! Without another thought, Roy's paws broke out in a sprint, leading him to the blocked entrance.

As Roy ran over, he skidded to a stop, noticing his groupmates already made it to the scene. Moonmade, Imperia, Suiteheart and Margaery already beat him to the scene, and got young Cerasus out of the rubble. Roy was glad that Cerasus was safe and away from harm, but he couldn't help it but feel anger brew in his chest. While Cerasus isn't family, Roy is very close with Suiteheart and Margaery. He felt panic brew in his chest the moment he heard Cece's terrified scream, he felt panic that one of their kids got extremely hurt. This is why children shouldn't be allowed near here! He thought, as his hard, cold gaze landed on little Cerasus. A frown quickly found it's way onto Roy's muzzle, disapproval gleaming in his eyes. Roy could still feel his heart pumping in his ears, Cerasus was lucky she wasn't harmed. Roy wasn't about to coo at the child, pat her head and say 'Thank goodness you're okay Cece, you had me so worried!' No, he was going to make sure Cerasus knew never to come back here, especially alone.

"What were you thinking? Going out here by yourself?" He began to scold the child, non-existing eyebrows arching with anger.  "You could gotten yourself injured! Or even worse, killed!" Roy snapped, nose scrunching up as his gaze locked on her, not caring if he's being too harsh. Cerasus could have been killed- that would have been devastating for everyone, especially Margaery and Suiteheart. And then, Roy's gaze tore away from Cerasus, and onto her parents for a moment. His blue eyes blinked, before his head slowly turned back onto Cece. "Apologize to your parents, now. You scared them half to death!"